S. Swaminathan
S. Ramesh Kumar

Mooring marketing efforts in the context of the consumer's culture, her usage of the product and anticipating associated needs can reap rich rewards for brands.

A consumer attempts to draw money from an ATM but finds that he does not have enough balance. The ATM offers the consumer a loan by the flash of a message if the consumer belongs to a certain privileged segment or has been identified as a valued customer of the bank.

An airline passenger listening to semi-classical music finds his screen flashing a message allowing discount for the music CD he is hearing, if he belongs to the Gold tier of the airline's frequent flier club.

While there are several concepts and research streams which may be evolving in marketing literature, technology and increasing customer information available with marketers makes it important for them to understand the power of contextual creativity.

The Indian context, with its unique circumstances and environment, offers tremendous scope for such creativity. The vast population at the bottom of the pyramid, changing lifestyles, cultural moorings and the fragmented economic spectrum offer a backdrop where contextual creativity is almost a prerequisite.

Brands which can take advantage of such opportunities are the ones which will be able to create and sustain success. A simple application of such creativity can be associated with the basic marketing elements.

A context consists of cultural/social situation, usage situation and the product offering. Without such linkages, a context cannot exist and marketers have to draw on their creativity with a combination of these factors.

Segmentation principles help marketers use these factors. Gillette developed its gel shaving cream and Vector Plus razor to suit the Indian cultural habit of using the brush and the habit of shaving a tough beard (tough due to infrequent shaving).

Usage segmentation situations are very useful in FMCG goods marketing. Dettol advertised its soap as a germ killer and recommended it for consumers who have to go through dusty and polluted roads. Dettol addresses the `dusty and polluted' situation.

Cornflakes like Kellogg's could have perhaps introduced its offerings as a food extender (used with other foods) for adults, used a trendy packing for teens and evolved a game with cereals for kids. All the three consumption situations as well as the segments are different.

Creativity need not be pathbreaking; it only calls for incremental value addition most of the times. If situational segmentation can be explored through research, marketers will have several insights which will be useful.

ITC's incense sticks used the belief that offerings made to God had to be pure to brand its sticks as pure - creating a brand in the commoditised market. Titan's gifting situation too is an interesting occasion-based segmentation approach. Clorets and Bilkul are products which attempt to urbanise a chewing habit prevalent for ages in the Indian context.

Applying contextual creativity

Product is the most fundamental part of the marketing mix and the one on which any kind of branding is built.

Applying contextual creativity to product design and innovation will be an important competitive advantage in the future. For example, soups are always seen as an `in-home' consumption category. Given that consumers with active lifestyles seek convenience and nutritional food wherever they go, the current product form does not satisfy the `out-of-home' need.

There is an opportunity for `ready-to-serve' soup pouches for a large segment of customers. They could target office-goers, families travelling during vacation and executives on the move.

Take, for example, Fair & Lovely, which again is designed only for in-home consumption. Disposable Fair & Lovely party packs could be made available at ATMs as women on the move come in to use them.

Bank ATMs redefined the banking habits of the society at large from time-restricted banking to 24x7 banking. It was a great off-site banking solution.

Again, looking at instant need vs off-site convenience, context can redefine banking product design. Today, there is need for instant cash beyond the debit and credit card or for people who do not own both products. One might not go to the ATM to withdraw money but there is a need for cash. Banks can load `digital cash' onto customer's mobile phones which can be used anytime.

Similarly, single-use to multi-use context can redefine product design. A hybrid pre-paid card which includes mobile minutes and cash can be launched by a mobile phone service brand. It's a great flexibility and differentiator in a cluttered market environment. It also provides a bank as a new distribution point for a mobile brand.

Also, a leading snacks brand such as Britannia can look at `easy lunch packs' for kids, bundling a piece of cheese, a mini-juice packet and two pieces of bread rolled into one.

The key challenge here is to redefine the context under which the product was designed and then look at ways of satisfying needs.

Loose oil was always seen as `not so pure' and packed oil as costly. Loose oil was then launched, by a leading brand, using vending machines. It was a brilliant concept of balancing the two widely divergent consumer problems using an innovative product design and delivery approach.

Timing of contextual creativity

Contextual creativity can help disrupt diffusion of brands given the timing and relevance to consumers.

Pre-paid cards in the mobile phone industry are a great example of how convenience and ease of use got redefined in the Indian context. Not only did owning a mobile phone become easier, pre-paid amounts created an `easy to buy' and `easy to own' perception among customers. It also redefined distribution formats for the mobile phone service providers as pre-paid cards became available in neighbourhood stores and access to the service became easy as consumers could recharge anytime. Today, with over 60 million mobile phone subscribers, India is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world.

Coupons are always seen as an important method of getting consumers to walk into stores or make repeat purchases. The only issue surrounding coupons is the lack of immediacy in distribution and lack of convenience in storing and bringing it back the next time a consumer wants to shop.

Take m-coupons with bar codes. A major retailer gets the customer to request special offers through a mobile and then distributes the coupon with bar codes on their mobile. The consumer uses it on purchase at the cash counter as the bar code technology is already available with most retailers. Thereby, customisation of coupons and reducing fraud with coupons is also achieved. Also, from the customer's point of view, they can ask for offers just when they want to shop and this serves as an excellent reason to visit that particular store. Timing can't be closer than this. Imagine the downstream opportunity of knowing what the consumer requested, and then driving relevant and targeted promotions.

Internet is also becoming the real driver of timing-based contextual creativity. With global consumers moving towards pull-based information on brands, search has become one of the most important areas of attention for brands. Google Adsense (Google's advertising engine) has significantly altered this model. If a customer searches for `soups' or `recipes,' the Google side bar has sponsored links of brands based on these key words. The fact that the consumer has very little time on the Net makes it important for brands to be on top of these key word searches.

Distribution and contextual creativity

This is an area where many important innovations have taken place. Coke's moving carts in Indian cities are an example. This is a clear example of a brand's stated strategy of wanting to be at `arm's length from thirst.'

Also, ICICI Bank has launched mobile ATMs, vehicles that park themselves in busy areas for customers to withdraw money, just in case there is no ATM nearby.

In the media space, mobile hoardings are an example of re-defining the traditional outdoor solutions provided by various media owners. The flexibility to move it around has been seen as a big advantage by advertisers.

New technology is driving a host of possibilities. For example, Ikea has online counsellors to help and guide customers on selecting various designs from their stores.

They are able to drive consistent customer experience across stores as this kind of capable advisors is easily scalable. Also, the Metro future store in Germany has all the shelves with price displays and ongoing offers.

The displays are connected to the inventory system and therefore provide flexibility to change promotional offers across the stores at the click of a button. Depending on the store sales for the day, different categories can be promoted with great customisation and ease.

With unlimited choice, which is bound to become the order of the day, contextual creativity will enable brands to make decision making easier for consumers.

The future is increasingly all about `right-time marketing.'

S. Swaminathan is Senior Vice-President, iContract (the one-to-one marketing division of Contract Advertising, Mumbai), and Dr S. Ramesh Kumar is Professor of Marketing, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

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